The first GPX Deviation of 2024 is a speculative Concept Visual for a possible Boss RV-7 Reverb
It’s been quiet a while since Boss completed its Digital Delay Range Revamp with the DD-3T and DD-8 - back in September of 2019 - that selection is fully rounded and up-up-to-date still - with each of the 4 pedals at the top of its respective game - DD-3T, DD-8, DD-200, and DD-500!
We had to wait an age for the RV-200 to arrive - where the DD-200 was part of the original June 2019 200-Series quartet. The current generation of compact Boss Reverb is the RV-6 - which was released as long ago as 2015 - so that’s definitely due an update soon. A follower whom we shall refer to as ’JD’ suggested that my next GPX Deviation be a concept visual for a possible RV-7 Reverb - which is what you see above!
JD made several observations and named some of his desired additions to the RV-6 - and I then distilled and extrapolated all that that into my above visua - with my own spin on things. Obviously the starting point was the incumbent RV-6 pedal - with some further inspiration and influence from the DD-8, RE-2, and RV-200 as you can see in the visual below.
Boss has a sort of tier system - where it reserves certain algorithms for pedals higher up in the range - so there will always be Unique Algorithms on each of the 500, 200 and Compact series - meaning that no way would they put the new ArpVerb onto the compact series - that should really be reserved for the RV-200.
The RV-6 as is has 8 Modes - compared to the recent DD-8’s 11 - so I grabbed a few more of the more generic algorithms from the RV-200. I then borrowed the control layout from the RE-2 - i.e. 3 x dual-concentric knobs plus a rotary Mode / Algorithms selector. And finally I added a Carryover / Tails switch to the rear of the device - as appears on the back of the RE-2 also :
I've tried to give the RV-7 its own standout feature set - which makes it a really worthwhile addition to your rig / pedal collection - and its unique feature compared to the RV-200 - is the Direct Level parameter - where you very can very finely define the relationship and precise ratio between Wet and Dry signal - to make this pedal one of the most adaptable reverbs ever with some cool specialist abilities - suitable for various schools of experimental Reverb utilisation.
The Modes / Algorithms suggested are as follows - and are in part ordered by the nature of the space available on the pedal facia :
ROOM / HALL / PLATE / SPRING / SHIM (Shimmer) / MD (Modulation) / DYN (Dynamic) / +DEL (EchoVerb) / GATE / LO-FI / REVERSE.
Controls - E.LEVEL (Effect Level / Wet) / D.LEVEL (Direct Level / Dry), HIGH (EQ) / LOW (EQ), TIME (Decay) / P-DELAY (Pre-Delay), MODE selector : 1-11 (as above), Carryover switch (Tails) on rear, Reverb Freeze effect by press-holding the footswitch.
It will of course be interesting and exciting to see how close my extrapolation comes to the eventual real thing - I got pretty close for my visualisation of the RV-200. Everything you see here already existing within the Boss Canon - and should be eminently doable - as to whether the Boss engineers follow the same thought process as me - that of course is somewhat unlikely. I feel they did a brilliant job on the RV-200 in any case - so hopefully they can be similarly on-point with the RV-7 - whenever that materialises!
Reference Demos RV-6 & RV-200
